ABOUT US

ABOUT US

ABOUT US

ABOUT US

EVERY DAY IS AN OPPORTUNITY

“To do the right thing at the right time is a great art.”

~Grand Master Helio Gracie~

Kama Jiu-Jitsu is the ONLY Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school in all of Orange County, CA and the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX Metroplex teaching Master Rickson Gracie’s Invisible Jiu-Jitsu to its members.

Kama Jiu-Jitsu’s mission is to share Master Rickson Gracie’s “Invisible Jiu-Jitsu” to all who wish to learn the self-defense system from the traditional Gracie Jiu-Jitsu of the Gracie Family’s “Master of Masters.”

Learn More About Kama Jiu-Jitsu

Learn more about the programs we have to offer and our memberships prices!

MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS

Professor David Kama

Dave Kama has been a student of Jiu Jitsu since the mid 1980s. He was fortunate enough to begin his journey learning in the “Gracie Garage” in Torrance, CA from Grand Master Rorion Gracie, Master Royce Gracie, Master Royler Gracie, Master Carlos Machado, Master Rigan Machado, and of course, Master Rickson Gracie. When the Gracie Academy was opened by Rorion Gracie, the original teachers split up. Rorion and Royce ran the Gracie Academy. Rigan and Carlos Machado opened RCJ Machado, Royler returned to Brazil, and Rickson opened his original Pico Blvd studio in West L.A. Dave is one of the very few people to have trained under Master

Rickson and have all his belts awarded to him by Rickson, blue belt through black belt. Dave Kama also #2 of the “Dirty Dozen”, a moniker given to the first 12 non-Brazilians to earn the coveted black belt.

Dave received the coveted Black Belt ranking from the “Master of Masters,” Rickson Gracie in 1995. Dave Kama grew to become Master Rickson’s best student (American or Brazilian), dispatching many challengers in place of Rickson himself. Dave also became Rickson’s most trusted understudy and took part in multiple Gracie Challenge matches. Master Rickson also trusts him and his mastery of Master Rickson’s Jiu-Jitsu so much, he still brings Dave along with him on his travels to help with his seminars, which regularly sport attendance numbers greater than 100 attendees.

In 1993, Master Rickson asked Dave to take over as head instructor at the Rickson Gracie Laguna Niguel location. Dave has been running this location ever since. In 2012, upon Master Rickson’s retirement, Dave officially changed the name of the school from Rickson Gracie Laguna Niguel to Kama Jiu-Jitsu, part of the Rickson Gracie Team of Academies.

Professor Fernando Costa

Instructor, David Kama Black Belt, 3rd Degree

Primary Training Centers: Laguna Niguel and Irvine

Professor Fernando Costa was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1963. He has been training as a dedicated student under the Gracie system since 1991. He received his black belt in 2008, and now is a 2nd degree black belt under David Kama / Rickson Gracie Jiu Jitsu. He has been teaching and training at the Kama Jiu-Jitsu Laguna Niguel (previously Rickson Gracie Laguna Niguel) for over 22 years.

Excellent Jiu-Jitsu seems to run in Professor Fernando’s blood. He also has two brothers who are black belts. One received his black belt from Rickson Gracie, and the other earned it under Professors Jacare Cavalcanti, Head of Alliance Jiu-Jitsu.

Professor Jack Taufer

Instructor, David Kama Black Belt, 2nd Degree

Primary Training Center: Irvine

Inspired after watching UFC 4 in 1995, Prof Jack began his Jiu Jitsu journey in Salt Lake City, UT. Fortunately, Master Pedro Sauer (Rickson Black Belt from Brazil) was teaching in Salt Lake City at the time. So from the beginning, he was exposed to the Rickson Gracie style of Jiu-Jitsu. However, it wasn’t until 1996 that he first met Master Rickson Gracie and then Assistant Professor Dave Kama. Because Jack also has family in Florida and would visit there often as a teenager, he had the opportunity to attend a Rickson Gracie seminar in Tampa, FL and it was there they finally met. It was under Master Pedro, who is slight of frame, where Jack learned the

value of having a profound (and deep) command of the basics. Around the year 2001, Jack relocated to Southern California where he was re-acquainted with Professor Dave Kama in Laguna Niguel at what was then Rickson Gracie Laguna Niguel. Arriving as a blue belt, Jack earned all of his subsequent belts from Professor Dave Kama as he built upon and re-enforced his already sound fundamentals and expanded upon them with more of the fine-tuned, high-level details that some people refer to as “invisible” or “hidden” Jiu-Jitsu. Ultimately, he earned his black belt in 2012, the same time as Professor Ryan, from Professor Dave Kama. Currently, Jack travels the country for his job, taking time to visit other academies to train, while often conducting Kama Jiu-Jitsu seminars when his hectic work schedule permits. Currently, Prof Jack is teaching the Monday and Wednesday evening classes at Kama Jiu-Jitsu’s Laguna Niguel, CA campus.

Other notable training mentions: After arriving in Orange County where Kama Jiu-Jitsu is located, Jack lived in San Diego for a short period of six months. During that time he trained under Royler Gracie black belts Saulo and Xande Ribeiro.

Professor Ryan Young

Instructor, David Kama Black Belt, 2nd Degree

Primary Training Center: Dallas, TX / Fort Worth, TX

Professor Ryan began his journey under Master Rickson’s older brother, Grand Master Relson Gracie in 1989. Upon moving to California in 1992, he began training at The Gracie Academy in Torrance, where he met Dave Kama. They immediately became friends due to their common Hawaiian heritage. Ryan made the transition to Master Rickson’s academy shortly after he opened his own academy in West L.A. in 1992. Unlike Professor Dave and Professor Fernando, Ryan trained at a few academies over the subsequent years. At these other academies (Dirty Dozen member Ken Gabrielson’s Combative Fighting Systems, and Brad

Jackson’s Ralph Gracie OC), Ryan met and studied under other prominent black belts such as Rodrigo Gracie, Roger Machado, Mauricio “Tinguinha” Mariano, Renato Migliaccio, and Eduardo Fraga. During this time, he spent a significant amount of time learning the competition game until he retired from active competition in 1996. In the mid-2000s, he also studied Judo under Japanese Judo legend Nori Bunasawa (8th Dan Kodokan), until he was sidelined by injury. In 2009 he was reunited with and settled in to his ultimate jiu-jitsu home at Professor Dave’s academy where he became an instructor and learned to teach what is called “The Dave Kama Way.” Ryan became “Professor” Ryan in May 2012, when he earned his professor bars on his black belt from Professor Dave Kama.

Prof Dave and Prof Ryan opened KJJ’s first academy outside of California in October 2013, when Kama Jiu-Jitsu Dallas Fort Worth opened its doors in Highland Village, TX. In 2015, Kama Jiu-Jitsu Dallas Fort Worth relocated to its current location in Flower Mound, TX.

Mr. Tony Torres

Instructor, David Kama Black Belt, 1st Degree

Primary Training Center: Sierra Vista, AZ

Founder and Chief Instructor of Functional Edge and Defence Lab Sierra Vista. He has spent the past 35 years researching, training in and teaching martial arts, combatives, self-defense, and defensive tactics to civilians, Law Enforcement Agencies and Military Personnel.

Mr. Torres served from 1981-1989 in the US Navy in the Search and Rescue, Nuclear Weapons Security, and Law Enforcement fields. While in the Navy he was the Defensive Tactics Instructor for CINCLANTFLT Headquarters Security Team and also taught martial arts and self-protection to the general public.

Mr. Torres was Honorably Discharged and joined the Virginia Beach Police Department where he served 13 years in various roles including patrol, plain clothes Special Enforcement Unit, Community Policing, Mobile Tactics, Physical Fitness and Defensive Tactics recruit and in-service instructor. He was certified by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as a General Instructor and Defensive Tactics Instructor. He is also recognized in Virginia as a Use of Force and Defensive Tactics Expert Witness.

From April 2002- Sep 2003 Mr. Torres worked for Blackwater USA as a Force on Force CQB instructor for its Naval Anti-Terrorism Warfare Courses. Then from 2003-2005 he worked for Backwater Security Consultants in Iraq as a Dignitary Close Protection Team Leader and Tactical Commander as well as a Team Leader for a QRF, Counter Assault, Convoy Team.

Mr. Torres started his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu journey in 1993 under Frank Cucci however this period was very sporadic due to his heavy involvement at the time in other martial arts and police responsibilities.

His serious study of Gracie Jiu Jitsu only started in 2010 achieving his blue belt in 2011 and his purple belt in 2014.

He is currently training with Kama Jiu-Jitsu, learning the Rickson Gracie methodology of Jiu-Jitsu under Grand Master Rickson Gracie Black Belt Master David Kama and Kama Jiu-Jitsu Professor Ryan Young.

Since 2001 Mr. Torres has specialized in teaching Behavioral Self Protection. During vacation time, in between trips to Iraq, and for the past 6 years on an ongoing basis, Mr. Torres has trained Local, State and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Conventional and Elite Military Units as well as civilians in Behavioral Self Protection.

Learn More About Kama Jiu-Jitsu

Learn more about the programs we have to offer and our memberships prices!